Eyesight
Eyesight is the first story in Matoro58's Divided We Fall series. It revolves around a group of outlaws who are placed together on a team and sent to Metru-Nui, in a universe where Vakama let Toa Matau die instead of saving him. Story Chapter 1 As he woke up, Mazrek felt the cold metal floor of the holding cell as he was lying down on it. He guessed it hadn't ever been exposed to sunlight or some source of heat, as it was one of the coldest things he ever felt. He had just opened his eyes from what he guessed was a kidnapping attempt on him, which obviously worked. Where was he again? "Market...bar...back room...sack...here." He recalled in his head. He should've known never to trust anyone who wanted to be with him alone, especially on Zakaz. He was a Skakdi of Air, and a thief, which, to an outsider, probably meant he was some kind of genius. He then turned his head down. The first thing he saw were his feet, and the stump on his left foot. It used to be his toe, but after it was trampled over by a Mahi, he had it amputated, as it kept on swelling like a bag when inflated. The bars of his cell were a bio or two away, and he could see into the cell of what looked like a large, green titan, with chains dangling around him, a mask which looked like two faces were stitched together with eyeholes showing sickly and dull yellow eyes, and claws that made the swords of some of the finest Skakdi warlords look like the pathetic weapons of a Matoran. He then got up and walked over to the bars, sticking his head in between. He could see the silhouettes of other occupants, but due to the dimmed lights and darkened cells, he couldn't fully make out their shapes and determine who they were. He glanced at the left and saw a metal door, about twelve feet high and five feet long. There were no windows, no special locks or knobs on it. It was just a large metal slab someone designed for the large (Space-wasting, in his mind) occupants of this prison. He couldn't tell if the door was soundproof or not, but he decided that he had to give it his all. "Hey! I want to talk to the idiot in charge!" He yelled, causing some of the sleeping prisoners to cast (What he assumed, since he couldn't see most of them) dirty looks. "Don't bother, all it gives you is a sore throat that just makes you want yell more." Said a voice. He had been paying attention to the other details of the prison, that he hadn't noticed the other occupants in his cell. He hesitantly turned around, the glare of the titan in the cell across of his on his back. There were five other prisoners in his cell with him, four of them which he didn't recognize. The first was a Steltian Labororer in red and silver armor whom he identified as the speaker, to his left a Miru-wearing Ba-Matoran with his eyes narrowed at Mazrek. In the far right corner of the cell was a tall male Vortixx, and leaning on the wall to the right of him, was a large winged being who's species he didn't recognize. The last occupant he knew by sight, they have never met in person, but Mazrek had seen him back on his home island. The occupant was a Skakdi of Fire named Synrik, who was (Or, by what he could tell, used to be) a Warlord on Zakaz, and one of the most powerful. He had a legion of one hundred fifty thousand Skakdi, one hundred Tahtorak, and what Skakdi on the streets rumored to be Rahi sent to him from the Brotherhood of Makuta. The last Mazrek has heard of him, Synrik was on a conquest to other lands like Xia and the Tren Krom Peninsula. Seeing the warlord there, means that he must've miserably failed. Mazrek quickly looked back to see if the green titan was still staring at him, before Synrik spoke. "Oh, don't mind Karzahni over there. He's only been in here for several days, so he's been glaring at all of us." The Skakdi of Fire sneered. Mazrek stared at him, then looked back. "Karzahni? Th-the Karzahni?" He stuttered. Synrik nodded. "The one and only. Like me. A being of great power, but then a tragic downfall leading to be stuck with the rest of you pieces of Muaka dung." He pompously said. The Steltian Laborer then came over, and then, demonstrating his obviously incredible strength, slammed Synrik against the wall of the cell. "May I remind you that you are as good as the rest of us, and that you should consider washing that mouth of yours out, something you apparently never did back on your homeland." The Laboror snarled. Synrik hissed. "Get your claws off me, you filthy, stupid, worthless slave!" He spat at the Laborer. The Laborer then pushed Synrik to the floor, and then pressed his head against the ground. "I should also remind you we all have names. Apparently, you didn't bother asking mine, and I thought someone of your class should have manners. My name is Genkro, and I already know yours, with lots of regret." Genkro then let go of Synrik, who immediately got up, muttering some of the dirtiest and foulest insults Mazrek had ever heard. Suddenly, the door of the prison opened and a tall, silver being entered, whom Mazrek presumed to be their jailer. He looked around until his eyes rested on their cell, then opened it. Synrik bolted at the door, only to be stopped by jailer, who grabbed and flipped Synrik on his back. He then looked at the rest of them, with strict blue eyes. "My advice to the rest of you, if you attempt to escape, you will be staying in here for a longer, longer time than the last. I hope you all enjoyed your stays, some shorter than the rest, and walk out very calmly, or else my friends will take care of you, and they aren't as nice as I am." The jailer spoke. One by one, the shuffled out of the cell, with Synrik being pushed in between the winged being and the Vortixx. Mazrek was the last to get out. As he did, he looked around, feeling a bit strange, since he was leaving a place he was only in, as long as he knew, mere minutes. Not that he'll ever miss the place, he saw enough of it to know that it probably wasn't the worst place he'll end up in. --- The fortress in which they were walking around in was confusing. To Mazrek, it felt like he was walking for hours in circles, over and over to the point the fortress' hallways were nothing special to him. Was it supposed to make outsiders feel like this? Or was it the person who designed it wanted to try to make it as complex as possible. Mazrek didn't do complex, but he knew that a series of hallways that looked identical to others was not, in any meaning of the word, complex. That being said, it wasn't like it wasn't eventful. Synrik kept whispering to others (Mostly the Ba-Matoran or the Vortixx), saying that the next chance he gets, he was running off. But the more they walked, the less Mazrek thought Synrik would take whatever chances he had left and run off, mostly because Mazrek guessed the others felt like him; confused, frustrated, and tired. At last, after what seemed like an eternity, they reached a door not unlike the door to the prison they were formerly in, except this one had a knob and a lock. The jailer quickly took out a ring with six keys on them, then used the fourth one to unlock the door. "Get in. And don't try anything wise." He ordered. The rest obeyed, though Mazrek thought he heard Synrik cursing foul insults once again, no doubt about being stuck in here with them. After walking in, Mazrek took some mental notes about the room they were in. It was at least one hundred feet long, fifty feet wide. There was nothing remotely interesting about the room, apart from the fact that at the end of it, there was a throne fit for a Toa or a Skakdi, and that there was a table with some food and water on it. Four other beings were present in the room apart from them. One was a Toa of Water, wearing armor that had strange carvings and symbols on it. Two of them Mazrek recognized as his captors, a Nine-foot tall Toa-like being, and a Twelve-foot tall one with a large mouth fit for the ugliest of Tahtorak. The fourth one was reclining on a chair in the corner, but given that the lights weren't that bright, his face was covered in darkness, preventing Mazrek from identifying him. The Toa of Warer then took a few steps towards them, and looked at them through her eyeholes, inspecting each and every one as if she was a Gukko mother inspecting her children. Finally, she stopped. "I suppose since you are all here, I can ask if you would like some food and water perhaps?" She asked. Mazrek was confused. As far as he had known, no captor he ever met would offer any of their prisoners food. And yet this Toa of Water, one who was presumably the leader here, was offering them food. The rest of them didn't hesitate. The all walked over to the table and took some meat, vegetables, fruit, water, basically anything on there, and started eating. Eventually, they all went back, which was when Mazrek went and took some food for himself. If there was one thing he learned, be the last one to take the food on the table, because then he could eat whatever he pleased. He took some meat and water, ate it, and walked back to where the others were standing, all talking to one another. The Toa of Water then looked at them again. "Now that you've enjoyed your meal, I can introduce myself. I am Toa Helryx, leader of the Order of Mata Nui, and the one who authorized all of this. "The silver one who brought you here is Amanuris. Like he probably told you, respect him, or else you'll be winding up enjoying your stay here for a longer time. This time we won't give you food or water. "Since I'm not sure if you all know each other's names, I will introduce you all to make sure you know who you'll be working with. "The Vortixx is Vexryl. He's stolen many valuable goods and has sold them and made a profit. He was found trying to steal an antique vase from the home of one of the Vortixx leaders on Xia, who works for us and managed to capture Vexryl. "Damru is the Ba-Matoran. He's a Con-artist who's made many counterfeit weapons and sold them on Stelt and Xia. We traced the weapons down to him when a Steltian land-owner tried to use one of the weapons against the Steltian Laborer, also known as Genkro, who was leading a slave rebellion. Genkro killed his owner and took over the plantation, until we heard about it. "Scavenger is the large one with the wings. He used to be a Dark Hunter, but after being involved in the raid on Artahka, we let him live unlike most who were involved in the raid. "Synrik, there's not much to explain. If you don't know who he is, he used to be a warlord, but while attempting to conquer other islands, his armies were destroyed by Vortixx war machines when he tried to conquer Xia, and we found him in hiding on the Tren Krom Peninsula. "Mazrek is the newest addition to this group of misfits, and yet, the least special and the most expendable, since all he used to be was a petty thief. Nothing special, just a thief who we managed to capture with ease. "Now since you are all probably wondering why you are all here, I will explain, but only the specific details. "A millenium ago, a massive earthquake shook this world and destroyed civilizations upon civilizations. Xia's economy collapsed, the leaders of Stelt lost power, and Zakaz was left in an even bigger state of ruins, which caused even more Warlords to rise. "But out of all the civilizations that were destroyed. There was one that, shall I put it, hit the rock bottom. That civilization was none other than what used to be the most grand out of any island in this world: Metru-Nui, the City of Legends. "Shortly after the earthquake, our agent on Metru-Nui, who's been there for the last 3,000 years or so, reported that the Makuta of Metru-Nui has went missing, and his Visorak Horde has arrived. He also explained that five of the six Toa that presumably were responsible for the disappearance of the Makuta of Metru-Nui have been betrayed and murdered by their leader, Toa Vakama, who then joined the Visorak Horde's leaders, a Steltian named Sidorak and a Vortixx named Roodaka, and Vakama became a Turaga, but not one I'd call wise. "Shortly after that, the Dark Hunters arrived on Metru-Nui and tried to find out about what happened to the disappearance of two of their operatives. They found out, but not before their leader, The Shadowed One, had been eaten alive by the Visorak, and the entire organization destroyed. The operatives, however, succeeded in surviving and freeing some of the Matoran that were enslaved to the Visorak. They have since formed resistance groups and have been fighting against the Visorak. "But we also need something. And that's when we decided to gather a group of the most expendable beings we could find and send them to Metru-Nui to retrieve that something. Who did we gather? Two con-artists, a thief, a former slave, a Dark Hunter, and a disgraced warlord. All of you and Amanuris will be going to Metru-Nui to retrieve the something we want, and hopefully, the eight of you will succeed." Helryx finished. "Eight? But if there's only seven, who's is the eighth memeber?" Synrik said, glaring at Helryx as if he was shooting daggers from his eyes. "That would be me." The reply had not come from Helryx, nor the two tall order agents. It had come from the being in the corner, and as he stood up and revealed his face, Mazrek could almost feel a cube of ice running down his spine. The eyes of Toa Varkon stared at all of them from behind of the orange Pakari that had been seen by millions, and had been the last sight of many before they died. It was old and weathered, but the way the Toa of Iron wore it made it look like it had been just taken out of a Kanohi heater, like the ones mask makers put the masks in before shipping them off to the market. "Varkon here will be your leader, as we need someone who could keep a close eye on you all other than Amanuris, and we thought a trained mercenary would be a perfect choice. If you disobey him, he'll make you suffer in ways I cannot possibly imagine in thousands of years." Helryx explained to the shocked prisoners. Mazrek kept staring at Varkon. He was being sent to Metru-Nui with a group of misfits that he couldn't care less for, a silver agent for an organization he was aware about for less than half an hour, and an assassin who could shoot off his head and place it on a stick for all to see whenever he pleased. At this point, Mazrek was just wishing he could've stayed in that cell he was in earlier. "What a lovely day." He thought sarcastically. Chapter 2 To be written Chapter 3 To be written Chapter 4 To be written Characters *Order Strike Team **Mazrek **Varkon **Synrik **Damru **Genkro **"Scavenger" **Vexryl **Amanuris *Order of Mata Nui **Helryx **Botar **Trimuna *Others *Karzahni Trivia *In Chapter 1, Helryx uses the term rock bottom to describe the fall of Metru-Nui. This is a reference to Rock Bottom, a story written by User:DeltaStriker.